Public education should be secular and should favour no religion over another. This principle protects religious students most of all.

My desire to see a fair and appropriate system for religious education in schools was why I watched the recent inquiry into scripture and ethics classes with interest (Science Party policy is to add Ethics to the curriculum and move any SRE classes outside of regular class time).

Two-and-a-half years and $300 million taxpayer dollars later, the inquiry is nearly over. Sorry for not following up on my previous blog posts for so long. At least I didn't stall for as long as the department did. Hah.

It's been one year since the Science Party endorsed a formal NSW state branch!

The Science Party NSW provides a political voice at the local and state levels for residents of New South Wales. We represent everyone who thinks governments should be transparent and accountable, and that the aim of government should be to use data-driven policy to achieve strong communities and a strong economy. We're optimistic about the future and see technology as a tool that can be used to improve our quality of life.

The NSW Science Party made a submission to the Finkel Review into the future security of the National Electricity Market earlier this year. In this blog post, Tom Geiser—lead author of the submission and energy industry professional—unpacks some of the major outcomes of the review.

It's the first of the month, which means it's freedom of information (FOI) request time!

Late last year I made an FOI request to the NSW Department of Education, seeking the status of the Review of Special Religious Education and Special Education in Ethics in NSW government schools. This review was opened for public comment in mid-2015. A costly independent report was commissioned shortly after, and it was received in March 2016. In November, I asked the how the report was coming along.

I extend my congratulations to Gladys Berejiklian on her new role as NSW Premier.

At her first press conference an hour into the job, an unidentified reporter asked Berejiklian: "The obvious question is do you think [being unmarried and childless] is a disadvantage politically because people have kids and they have families and people identify with that."

This "obvious" question was not at the front of my mind, I have to admit.